From star Wars from George Lucas to the saga Rebel Moon from Zack Snyder going through the classics west Magnificent 7 John Sturges. The truth is Seven Samurai70 years later, they definitively influenced cinema as it is known today. Moreover, the film became a central point of understanding of action, tragedy and redemption that still remains new today. In particular, when the scenario that Akira Kurosawa offers in his film, It is timeless and, without a doubt, can be classified into any genre.
The result is a neat, exciting and complex film that goes beyond classic Japanese history. At the same time, it is about the director delving into the wounds of his country, traumatized by the events surrounding its defeat in World War II. Kurosawa tried to take nuclear fear, the brutality of the American occupation, and the collective humiliation of failure into a space where it could give it a second meaning. What is he doing Seven Samurai, in a story closer to symbolic than to historical drama.
Moreover, this feature film is the best representation of the brilliance of Asian cinema of the 1950s and is a mixture of the traditional vision of good and evil of Japanese culture and a bolder version dedicated to the sense of honor. This makes him a bridge between traditional cinema, in which the figure of the samurai was a figure of power, and more modern cinema, in which he also becomes an emblem of suffering. Meanwhile, it was this film in which Kurosawa demonstrated his talent for recreating battles and The poetic use of visuals continues to surprise and delight in equal measure.
A complex story told elegantly
A film that tells the story of an entire city on the brink of starvation is necessarily painful. Not just to show the devastating effects of poverty. At the same time, it explores violence from a completely unique perspective. The film is set in the Japanese feudal wars around the 16th century. These are the ones who can impose their will through weapons and brutality.
This may seem like a general premise until the director combines all of the above into a survival dilemma. One of the residents of a town besieged by thieves decides that the only way to prevent the theft of the crops on which the future of the population depends is to protect it. This will bring him into contact with Kambei (Takashi Shimurai), a ronin—a masterless samurai—who is experiencing a particularly desperate moment in his life. The offer is simple: you will have something to eat if you can prevent an attack on the village.
History moving away from patriotic
Kambei accepts the terms and also recruits six more people for the mission in situations similar to his. In difficult times, a group of warriors decides that the best way to avoid the destruction of the city is to teach its inhabitants how to defend themselves. Screenplay also written by Akira Kurosawa, four-handed with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni. Then make the best decisions to turn the film into more than an action scene.
At the same time, he pays tribute to the Japanese people, drawing parallels between a defeated people and one on the brink of disaster with post-war Japan. As the story progresses, Kurosawa manages to connect the idea of responsibility for rebuilding the country with collective initiative. Gradually, the film, which began as a moral drama, turns into an epic. One in which Japanese identity is shown in all its ferocity and power. for redemption. What turned the film into a work that dazzled and thrilled the country.
The Best of Akira Kurosawa
For Kurosawa, creating a moral epic that was not preachy or nationalistic was a difficult task. Especially because in Rashomon (1950) he had already come to similar conclusions. Much more so, to the extent that the drama, with its uplifting overtones, could also be a political look at Japan. However, for the director The idea was more focused on exploring reasons to continue when there seemed to be no one to do so.
So he created a visual of contrasting black and white images that makes the battle more complex than just preventing the destruction of the city at the center of the conflict. Likewise, these are considerations for Japanese society and culture in their darkest moments. So, there are large-scale games that offer social differences that end up being destroyed or eliminated by battle. At the same time, the argument analyzes the idea of losers and winners – in war, in life – from the emotional.
But it is the attention to action scenes that makes the film a classic that remains unsurpassed to this day. The camera follows samurai and peasants, witnessing their exploits, triumphs and deaths. Gradually the tape becomes more complex in symbols. This includes the way of death, the way of understanding loyalty and the pursuit of goodness. A combination that provides Seven Samurai some of his best moments.
A look at a society in crisis
Although not strictly political, Seven Samurai elegantly examines Japan’s social wounds. He also does this through a mythical figure its feudal warriors who became legends in the history of the country.
However, this time the samurai turned out to be more than just the heroes they eventually became. At the same time, they express the frustration of the average Japanese. What, after the fall of the nation in the hardships of the post-war period.
Kurosawa achieved this through a simple means. As a group of ronin responsible for training disgraced people, they also seek their own salvation. Japan, which was going through some of its worst times at the time of the film’s release, finds the high and low points of its culture in it. But at the same time, a way to understand that the painful past he faced This was part of their history and therefore had to be analyzed.
As a result, a film for the history of cinema
Happy 70th anniversary of graduation, Seven Samurai, continues to be an exceptional combination of Japanese culture and the best action film. From creating a new style – the director integrated the use of telephoto lenses to give the film a distinct aesthetic – to using multiple cameras. The truth is that the film revolutionized the way cinema is told and took it to the next level.
But beyond that, for Kurosawa, the real goal was to convey the particular mood of post-war Japan. The ability to overcome the pain of your wounds and find your place in the world again. What the film shows in all its splendor andmakes him the pearl of the seventh art.
Source: Hiper Textual
